


Love in the Time of Dragons

by FeelsandFandoms



Series: Prompt Fills [6]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Oblivious Merlin, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Secretive Arthur, writer!Merlin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-16
Updated: 2014-04-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 17:47:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1313704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeelsandFandoms/pseuds/FeelsandFandoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin is a writer who spends the majority of his time locked away in his flat writing. He's trying to finish the last book in his fantasy series but has a bad case of writer's block. He decides to try writing in a coffee shop to see if a change in scenery helps. In doing so, he meets Arthur Pendragon  and his life gets a little more interesting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Kindness of Strangers

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Camelot_Land](http://camelot-land.livejournal.com/) for the prompts "Love in the Time of Dragons" and "The Kindness of Strangers".

Merlin stared at the blank word document with no idea on what to write. Writer’s block had completely set in and at the worst time. He already had asked for an extension on the rough draft but that deadline was fast approaching and Merlin was no closer to finishing than he was before. Merlin drummed his fingers on his desk as he gazed out the window. Maybe a change in scenery would help since it was obvious he wasn’t getting anything accomplished staying in his flat. So he packed up his laptop and left in search of somewhere to write. 

After wandering aimlessly around the city for almost an hour, Merlin came upon a small coffee shop that looked inviting. He stood outside the door for a moment debating about whether to go in or not. He wasn’t into the whole ‘writing in a coffee shop’ thing like so many other authors liked to do. He didn’t see the appeal or understand how anyone could focus with so many people around them. But then again, Merlin was desperate and he entered, maybe something good would come of it. 

“Hello, welcome to Elena’s Café,” a cheery blonde greeted from behind the counter as he entered. “What will it be?”

Merlin ordered a toffee caramel latte and made his way over to a table in the corner. He sat up his laptop and waited. The woman who took his order, the owner Elena he presumed, soon brought him the latte. 

“If there’s anything else I can get you, just let me know,” she said with a smile. 

“Thank you,” Merlin replied as she walked away. 

He slowly sipped his drink as he took in his surroundings. It was a small shop but it had its charms with its mix matched table and chairs to the bookcase with well-worn books on the shelves. Merlin was surprised he’d never seen this place before, but then again, he didn’t leave his flat very often. After finishing his latte, he rested his chin in his hand and drummed his fingers on the table, finding himself in the same place as before. 

His attention soon fell upon a blond who entered the shop. He had a handsome face, broad shoulders and a nice arse. Merlin watched him walk up to the counter and lean against it.

“How are you today, Elena?” he asked. 

“I’m doing well. Will it be the usual, Arthur?” Elena asked, already grabbing a cup for him. 

“Yes, thank you.” Arthur’s gaze scanned the café and his eyes met Merlin’s. He gave him a smile, causing Merlin to drop his eyes. 

Merlin assumed the guy was just being friendly, but in the case he wasn’t, he didn’t want the guy to get the wrong idea. He did not have time for a relationship. He turned his attention back to his laptop and tried to look busy.

Arthur kept his gaze on Merlin until Elena placed his coffee in a to-go cup on the counter in front of him. He turned back to her, “Thanks, Elena. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He looked at Merlin one last time and left.

After he was gone, Merlin relaxed in his seat. He couldn’t stop thinking about the blond and from that he felt a spark of inspiration. The little café was soon filled with the sound of keys tapping. He ignored everyone who entered the shop and became so engrossed in his world that he lost track of time. It was late in the afternoon when he came to a stopping point. He packed up his laptop and stopped by the counter to drop another tip in the tip jar.

“Thank you. I hope you visit again,” Elena said.

“I certainly will be. Have a good rest of the day.” Merlin had a bright smile on his lips as he left the café. He couldn’t wait to call his editor and give her the good news that he had actually written something. 

 

It soon became routine for Merlin to walk the few blocks every day to Elena’s to write. Elena was always smiling when he entered and asked him how the writing was going and Merlin answered with a version of “good” as he took his usual seat in the corner. Whether it was tea or coffee for that day, Elena was consist with refilling his cup when it emptied and was always friendly. Merlin was happy with how things were now going. As long as he stayed on the task of writing and avoided distractions, he just might be able to finish the draft somewhat on time. But Merlin found out a couple of weeks later that it would be hard to avoid one particular distraction, Arthur Pendragon. 

It was a Friday afternoon when Merlin saw someone standing close to him out of the corner of his eye. At first he thought it was Elena and didn’t bother to look up, but then he remembered that she just refilled his tea so it couldn’t have been her. He glanced up to see Arthur. Despite seeing him come into the shop every day, they never spoke to each other or had any other interaction outside of looking at each other.

“Oh, um…hello?” Merlin said unsure of what to do in this kind of situation. 

“Hi, I’m sorry to disturb you while you work. I don’t normally do this, but I’ve seen you in here a lot lately and thought I would try and talk to you.”

Merlin wasn’t expecting that from Arthur. “Well, I am trying to work,” he began. 

Arthur’s smile started to fade and shifted uncomfortably, “I’m sorry for bothering you then. I’ll just –”

“No, Arthur, it’s okay. I could use a break right now. You can join me,” Merlin finished with a bright smile. This was complete lie though. Merlin didn’t need a break nor should he waste time, but he also didn’t want to say no to Arthur either. “I’m Merlin by the way,” he said as Arthur sat down across from him. Merlin closed his laptop so the screen wasn’t in between them.

“How did you know my name?” Arthur asked, taking a sip of his coffee. 

“You’re in here every day and I’ve heard it a few times. How else would I have known it?” 

Arthur gave Merlin an odd look, “Oh yeah, of course. It’s nice to finally make your acquaintance.”

Merlin nodded in agreement. He didn’t know what to say next so he sipped his tea and hoped Arthur would speak. 

“Have we met before?”

“No, I don’t believe we have. I would remember your face if we had.” 

Arthur smiled at Merlin’s answer.

“I just meant that I’m good with remembering faces, not because I think you’re good looking … I need to shut up now.” Merlin felt his cheeks redden and he was regretting inviting Arthur to sit with him. 

Arthur chuckled. “I only ask because I know I’ve seen your face before but I can’t place it. What do you do for a living?”

Merlin was glad Arthur moved past his conversation. “I’m a writer.”

Arthur snapped his fingers, figuring it out. “That’s it! You’re Emrys, the author of Love in the Time of Dragons series. I’ve read all of your books.” 

Merlin sat speechless. He wasn’t trying to be judgmental but Arthur didn’t seem the type that read his books. He also wasn’t used to being recognized in public. He wasn’t J. K. Rowling. 

“I hope this doesn’t make it awkward between us now,” said Arthur.

“No, it’s okay. I’m just not used to people recognizing me in public. It’s not like I’m a movie star or something like that who gets easily recognized.”

“Yeah, I can understand that.”

“So how did you come across my books?” Merlin asked as he leaned forward, resting his folded arms on the table. He was always interested to hear how readers discovered his works. 

“My sister recommended them to me. She’s more of a reader than me and said they were the best books she’d ever read and I just had to read them too. I hate to admit she was right. Are you working on the next book now?”

“Yes, or at least I’m trying. The rough draft was due months ago but I’ve had a bad case of writer’s block. I’ve been able to get over it some after I started coming here to write.”

“It’s a magical place,” Arthur said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He read the incoming text message. “I hate to cut this short but something’s come up and I need to leave. Do you have a pen?”

Merlin pulled a pen from his bag and handed it to Arthur, who took the pen and scribbled something onto a napkin. He pushed the napkin toward Merlin as he rose. 

“I’ll see you around,” he said as he walked away, waving bye to Elena. 

Merlin picked up the napkin to see Arthur’s phone number. It brought a smile to his face as he placed it in his bag. He tried to focus back on writing but realized he couldn’t. He packed up his laptop and drank the rest of his tea as he walked up to the counter. 

“How much do I owe you for today?” he asked as he sat the empty cup down. 

“Oh, it’s already been taken care of,” Elena replied.

“What do you mean?”

“Someone, who wants to remain anonymous, paid for all of your drinks today.”

Merlin already had an idea of who it was. “Well then, I hope you have a great rest of the day, Elena.”

“You too, Merlin.”

After Merlin settled back into his flat, he pulled the napkin out of his bag and saved the number into his phone. He then texted Arthur saying, "I don’t need you to pay for my drinks." He was surprised when he got a response immediately from Arthur.

"Most people would say ‘thank you’ to free drinks. My intention was not to offend you.''

"I’m not most people."

 

"If it makes you feel better, I did it before I tried speaking to you and didn’t know who you were yet."

That did make Merlin feel better about it. He didn’t want someone buying him drinks just because of who he was. "So you were just being a kind stranger?"

"Yes and I hope to become more than that."

Merlin wasn’t quite sure how he felt about Arthur’s directness but least he was being honest and he was pretty hot. Possibly spending some time with Arthur couldn't put him off schedule more than he currently was. So Merlin replied, "I think we can work on that."

"Fantastic. I would ask you out to coffee but since we met that way, how does dinner sound?"

"Dinner would be wonderful."

"Next Monday at 7?"

After replying with a “yes”, Merlin called Gwen and told her all about it.


	2. The Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day for Merlin's dinner with Arthur has arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for the Camelot_Land prompts "Valiant" and "To Kill the King".

The day before his dinner with Arthur, Merlin received a text from him.

“Any food allergies I should know about? I don’t want to kill you with my cooking. 

“No allergies but I am vegetarian,” he replied. 

“Good to know. Also, I need your address so I can pick you up tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to do that. I can get there myself.”

“Just humor me, Merlin.”

Merlin was tempted to keep arguing but decided against it, sending Arthur his address. He wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this dinner. It had been a while since he attempted going to dinner with anyone. He didn’t want to call it a date because that would bring all kinds of expectations he didn’t want. But that still didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous about it.

Gwen was more than happy to come over the next day to help him prepare and pick out what to wear. 

“You’re over thinking this, Merlin,” she said as she sat on Merlin’s bed, watching him dig through his closet. 

“I’m just not sure how formal or informal this dinner is,” Merlin replied without looking back at Gwen. 

“You said it’s at his place right?”

“Yes.”

“So it really doesn’t matter then what you wear. If you’re not going out to a fancy restaurant then you don’t need to dress up.”

“True, but I do want to make a good impression,” Merlin said, turning to look at Gwen. 

Gwen looked at him for a moment, “You must really like this guy.”

Merlin ignored her statement and looked back at his closet. “How about this one?” he asked as he pulled out a shirt. 

Gwen shook her head. She rose from the bed and walked toward him, pulling out a blue button up shirt and black pants. “The blue will bring out your eyes.”

Merlin glanced over the clothes, “But these trousers are a little tight.” 

“They’re supposed to be tight. That’s why I made you buy them a couple of months ago.”

Merlin reluctantly took the clothes from Gwen.

“Put them on! I want to see how you look.” Gwen jumped back onto the bed as Merlin walked into his bathroom to change. 

“What do you think?” he asked as he walked back into his room. 

“Give me a twirl. That looks great on you. Those trousers show off your bum quite nicely.”

Merlin rolled his eyes, “Please remind me why I asked you to help me.”

“Quit complaining. You’ll be thanking me tomorrow when those trousers get you laid. Maybe a night of fun will help loosen you up, you need it.”

“Gwen!”

“I’m just speaking the truth.”

Merlin checked the time. “He should be here soon.”

Gwen rose from the bed. “That’s my cue to leave. But in all seriousness, I hope you have a good time tonight. You need to relax.” Gwen started walking down the hall to the front door with Merlin following.

“Thanks, Gwen,” he said as they stopped at the door, giving her a hug. “And before you ask, you’ll hear all about this tomorrow.”

“Good.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek before opening the door. “And don’t even think about changing!” 

Merlin laughed, “Good-bye, Gwen.”

Once he was alone, he walked back into his room and looked at himself in the mirror. He didn’t think he looked half bad. Since he still had about fifteen minutes until Arthur showed up, Merlin tried to stay busy to keep his mind distracted. He sat on the couch and flipped through the channels.

Thirty minutes later, Merlin was still sitting on his couch waiting. Arthur must have gotten caught up in traffic, Merlin thought. After another fifteen minutes, Merlin started to worry. He picked up his phone to call Arthur just as he received a text from the man. 

“Had a mishap with dinner. Will be there soon.”

There was a knock on Merlin’s door five minutes later. He sprang off the couch and opened the door, surprised not to see Arthur. Instead, there was a tall, curly headed man in a black suit. 

“Are you Merlin?” the man asked. 

“Yes?”

“My name’s Leon. Arthur sent me to pick you up for dinner.”

“Oh, okay then. Just a second.” Merlin grabbed his keys and followed Leon out to the black car that was waiting for them. 

Leon opened the back seat passenger door for Merlin.

"Do I have to sit in the back?" Merlin asked.

Leon looked surprised at the question. "I guess you don't have to if you don't want to. It's just a force of habit. You can sit up front with me."

Merlin opened the front seat door before Leon got the chance to and slid into the seat. Leon quickly walked around to the driver’s side and got in. Merlin didn't know what to expect from dinner tonight but being picked up by Arthur's driver was not one of them. 

The car was silent as they drove across the city to Arthur's. Once they arrived, merlin nervously followed Leon up to the front door. He instantly felt under dressed just being in the house and wondered what kind of guy he was about to have dinner with. 

Arthur walked around the corner and smiled at his: guest. "Merlin! Sorry about the tardiness and being there to pick you up."

Merlin was slow to reply because he was too busy taking in Arthur's appearance. He was used to seeing him in casual clothes but tonight he was dressed in a red shirt with the top two buttons open and a black suit vest. "It's fine. I just wasn't expecting Leon to show up." 

"I guess I should have told you that in my text. Sorry. But food is ready now if you'll follow me." 

'Gladly' Merlin thought as Arthur turned around giving him a good view of his tight arse. 

"Thanks again, Leon," Arthur said over his shoulder. 

"So what's this mishap that happened?" Merlin asked as they entered the dining room. 

"I forgot that I'm not that good of a cook. It was a valiant effort but it didn't turn out well. So I ordered Chinese takeaway. No meat."

"I'm surprised you don't have your own personal chef," Merlin joked.

"Tonight's their night off."

Merlin shouldn't have been surprised by that. "Well, maybe you could give it a try again next time."

Arthur pulled out a chair for Merlin. "The night has just begun and you're already saying there will be a second date? I didn't realize I was that good." 

Merlin sat down in the chair. He didn't mean for it to come out like that. He looked at the table and saw Arthur already had the food set on the table, still in the boxes. 

“I realized that I never got your last name at Elena’s when we met nor do I know what you do for a living. It only seems fair for me to know since you already know about me,” Merlin said as he picked up a box of noodles. He noticed Arthur looked a little uncomfortable with his questions but he did answer. 

“The name is Arthur de Bois and at the moment I’m in between jobs.”

Merlin knew he was holding something back but decided not push him. Whatever Arthur did must pay well to live in a house like this and have his own driver and chef. Maybe he just comes from a wealthy family and didn’t need a job. 

“How’s the writing coming along?” Arthur asked. 

“It’s going well except I’m still working through the writer’s block I’ve been having. I ran into another snag yesterday.”

“What’s the problem, if you don’t mind me asking?” 

“It’s poor planning on my part because I didn’t plan this out when I started writing the series. I don’t know how to kill the king.”

Arthur covered his ears, “No! Don’t say another word! I don’t want any spoilers.”

Merlin laughed at how silly Arthur looked. “You’re the one who asked about how it was going.”

Arthur removed his hands. “I know but I didn’t realize you would give details. I want to be surprised.”

“I promise I won’t say any details about the plot.”

“Thank you,” Arthur said as he turned back to his food. “I figured that would be something you had figured out since the beginning.”

“Well, I always knew he would die in the end and I had a general idea of it. I kept telling myself I would figure out the exact details when I got to it. And now that I’ve reached that point, I have no clue what to write.”

“I’m sure you’ll think of something brilliant.”

The conversation slowed as they continued to eat. There was a thought in the back of Merlin’s mind that kept gnawing at him. He was worried to ask but his curiosity got the better of him. “Can I be honest with you about something?” 

Arthur looked across at him, expression blank. “Sure.”

“I’m kind of surprised you’re not asking me questions about the series or the last book. Whenever I make appearances or speak with fans, it’s all they want to ask about.”

“Thank you for the honesty but I will assure you that I didn’t ask you to dinner to ask about your writing, Merlin. I want to get to know you. As much as I want to know how the king dies and the story is wrapped up, we’ll only discuss your work if you want to.”

Merlin smiled, “Good to know. I love my books and I’m glad others do as well. But it’s nice to have a conversation outside of them.”

“I know the feeling,” Arthur said. 

The conversation seemed to flow better after that. They continued asking each other questions, getting to know each other throughout the rest of dinner. Merlin realized how he actually missed just sitting and talking with another person. 

“Would you like to carry this conversation into the living room?” Arthur suggested after they finished eating. 

“Yes, that sounds good. Lead the way.”

The pair soon entered the living room. Merlin tried to stare at everything. He may be a best-selling author but he couldn’t afford half the items in this room. “This is a nice place you have,” he said as he stood next to couch, a little anxious about sitting on something so expensive. 

“Thank you. Please, sit down and make yourself comfortable. Would you like something to drink?”

Merlin slowly sank down onto the couch. “No, thank you.”

Arthur poured a glass for himself and soon joined him on the couch. “I take it you don’t get out very much.”

“Nope, I’m not one for socializing anyway but I’ve been solely focusing on finishing the book. Once I finish it, I plan to take a break from writing. I need some time away from my laptop.” 

“What made you agree to dinner with me then since you haven’t finished?” 

Merlin shrugged. “It’s been a while since I’ve been on a date –”

“So this is a date then?” Arthur asked, giving Merlin a sly smile. 

Merlin couldn’t help but smile with him. “Yeah, I suppose it is.”

Arthur nodded, “Good to know. Sorry to interrupt, please continue.”

“It’s okay, now where was I? Oh, so I haven’t been on a date or haven’t made much time for friends in a while and I was intrigued by you. You were pretty bold when you approached me and I was intrigued.”

“I’m glad I didn’t scare you away or anything.” 

Merlin became aware of how close Arthur suddenly was but he didn’t move away. He even scooted a little closer. “I don’t scare that easily.” 

“Do I still have your interest or is this just to be a one night thing and we’re never to see each other again?”

“You definitely still have my interest.”

“Good,” Arthur said as he leaned in, capturing Merlin’s lips for a kiss. 

 

It was later that evening, while lying in Arthur’s bed, that Merlin realized he’d let himself go further than he anticipated. He didn’t think Gwen’s choice in his wardrobe had anything to do with them ending up in bed together but he knew she would take credit for it. As Arthur snuggled close behind him, Merlin thought that maybe a relationship couldn’t be so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you find any inaccuracies, let me know.


End file.
